Bound By Weakness, Led By Fate
by Jyrotika
Summary: During a regular mission, Naruto is captured by an organization that wishes to use him as an assassin and elite weapon. Will his friends find a way to rescue him before he becomes just another puppet under the organization's control? Rated M for safety...
1. Part One: Captured!

The sound of buzzing was heard as yet another mosquito zipped toward its intended target-

THWAP!

The mosquito was no more.

"Jeez! How many mosquitoes ARE there in this forest?! I can barely sit still at all from all of them swarming me!!", Naruto said under his breath. He was currently in the middle of a humid, tropical forest, waiting for a signal from Kakashi-sensei that would tell him to make his move.

His job was to jump down behind the guards protecting the crime boss' stronghold, though they had yet to appear. Their boss was a wealthy criminal who had hired the toughest thugs around to guard his center of operation. Being overwhelmed by the constant criminal activity, a nearby village had hired the leaf shinobi to get rid of the man.

Unfortunately, this village wasn't within Fire Country territory. It didn't even belong to any of the surrounding countries. In fact, said village was several small countries south and west of the shinobi's home country. Needless to say, the climate differed greatly.

Naruto had been overjoyed at first mention of the mission- it was definitely better than any of the D-class missions they had been given. Their team had finally gotten a second chance at a C-class mission, and the chance to travel for it, too. They had all been satisfied with a harder mission. Now, they were completely fed up with it. When they had first arrived, it had seemed humid compared to Konoha, but seemed bearable. After having to scout out the entire forest, though, they were very unhappy with the climate. Pouring sweat and panting heavily, they dropped to the ground in the middle of the camp, sharing all the information they had gotten and putting together a map of the area.

At first, Naruto had been so excited with his part in the mission. He would wait for a signal from Kakashi, and then he'd get a chance to use his skills in action by taking out all of the guards there. He was very open about sharing his joy, especially since Sasuke's only task was to incapacitate the criminal boss long enough for the local police to take him into custody, and Sasuke was obviously not overjoyed about having such a small part. Sakura accepted her part of the mission easily, as she was to watch the path for any approaching civilians or reinforcements for the guards. The task that Kakashi gave himself was securing the stronghold door, just in case there were other guards in there that might attempt to help the criminal boss.

Naruto's attention was quickly pulled away from the multiple mosquitoes that had surrounded him when Kakashi contacted him over the radio headset. "Naruto, the guards are headed your way. They should pass you in approximately 54 seconds." "Got it! They won't know what hit them!", Naruto whispered back.

Right after the guards had passed, Naruto dropped out of the tree and knocked them all out, only needing a few shadow clones to help, and only to ensure that they couldn't scream for help in time. Dispelling his shadow clones, Naruto stood up and stretched. He didn't sense the chakra signal of the man behind him until it was too late. Just as he turned to see who it was, he was hit with a feeling of complete and utter agony, and the world around him faded away into light.

The next thing Naruto knew, he was standing in front of the Nine-tailed Fox's cage. The fox was bellowing at him, and with a tone of voice that Naruto hadn't heard him use before. 'Was that.. a hint of panic?', Naruto thought with a shudder. By concentrating, he was finally able to pull his thoughts together enough to understand the fox.

"Damn it boy, get up! You have to do something! If you don't get your head out of the clouds right now, we'll both be dead! Take this chakra, and run! Run for both of our lives! If he catches you, we'll-"

The rest of what the Nine-tailed Fox was saying was cut off, as Naruto fell to the ground inside the room that held the fox's cage, and everything went black.


	2. Part Two: Escape?

When Naruto woke up, he was on the cold, concrete floor of a cool, dark room. Throughout the room, there was a revolting smell of blood and death so thick that Naruto gagged a few times and had to fight to keep his lunch in his stomach. The darkness was so thick that at first, he wasn't sure that he had even opened his eyes. He felt across his face, feeling that his eyes really were open.

'I hope I didn't go blind or something...'

Naruto's fears were short-lived, as a door on the other side of the room opened. He shielded his eyes as best he could from the blinding light.

'If I wasn't blind before, I'm definitely blind now!'

There was the sound of footsteps as someone entered the room. A deep, male voice rang out in the room.

"Hello.", the man said, the smirk on his face dripping into his words.

"Once your eyes adjust, you may or may not recognize me as the one that brought you here. You are in a holding cell inside of our headquarters. You will follow our instructions or else. Your life belongs to us, Uzumaki Naruto."

'What..What the hell?!'

"Wait, what?! Who the hell are you, and how the hell do you know my name?!", Naruto shouted, his voice somewhere between a shout and a growl. The man only smirked even wider, a small sound of amusement passing his lips as he walked out the door and left Naruto alone in the darkness again.

'Aw man, what did I do to deserve this?! I gotta get outta here somehow.. The bars looked too thin to crawl through, and I can't even see enough of the door to figure out how it opens... I'll have to wait until he comes back... Yeah, that's what I'll do- wait until that bastard comes back and beat the living hell right out of him!'

Hours had passed since the man left Naruto in the pitch-black room, and Naruto was getting very tired of waiting for him to return. He focused his attention on staying still, just in case he might need all the pent-up energy he currently had while he was escaping. Suddenly, a thought came to him.

'Wait... If I'm in a room-thing or whatever, and there's walls... Aw, why do I have to be so stupid?! All I need to get out is a solid Rasengan, and this dump'll be nothing more than rubble! Heck, I could flatten this place with Gamabunta if I wanted!'

Naruto had made a shadow clone, started to form his Rasengan and was almost ready to strike at the wall when he heard a small creak from where the door was.

"You don't want to do that."

Naruto spun around, almost falling over from the sudden movement. Behind him was the man that had spoke to him earlier, and knocked him out during his mission.

"How... How the hell'd you get in here without me noticing?!", Naruto screamed at the man, taking a step back, his Rasengan still in hand and his shadow clone also taking a step back.

"How did I get in here without you noticing?", the man mocked, barely holding back a chuckle. "I walked. I walked right into this room. How did you not notice?" The man snorted, then continued, "You're weak. You can't even sense me unless I make an effort to be found. You'd never make it out of here alive."

Naruto growled. 'This bastard is really starting to piss me off!'

"Oh yeah?", Naruto snarled at the man.

"Yeah."

"You're going down for good!", Naruto yelled, and started to attack the man.

"Don't even bother attacking me- I'll let you go if you can make it out of this cell."

'Is that all? Well, in that case..'

Naruto charged at the wall, Rasengan in hand. The very second that the Rasengan hit the wall, a blue haze appeared along the entire wall. The Rasengan reflected right off of the haze, spraying all of the energy away from it in a solid wave headed for Naruto. Throwing up his arms to shield himself from the energy wave, Naruto had just enough time to regret attacking the wall before he fell to the ground unconscious.


	3. Part Three: Missing

:D Thanks to both of my reviewers, who were really inspiring :-) I forgot to put a thank-you at the top of the last one… Sorry! " And I wanted to make this chapter longer than this, but that would mean taking another few hours to type out the next part, which by itself could be at least **one** chapter, if not **three**. (I just got back from a camping trip, or else it would be longer " ) I'll try to update as soon as I can- I'm hoping to update at least every 2 weeks :-) Thank you again!! Oh, and when I use this type of writing (with bold, underline and italics) "_**here"**_ it means that the story is switching locations. And Thanks once more:D

As the man walked out of Naruto's cell, he closed the door and turned to the two guards there. "Kizaro, Fuuna, take him to one of the torture cells." Seeing their nervous faces, he added, "Don't worry about him waking up. He'll be out for at least an hour."

"Yes sir!", both of the guards said, saluting simultaneously as their boss walked away.

As an afterthought, the man turned and gave one more order. "Be sure to bind his hands together behind his back... And use that new wire we just got." The two guards stared at the man's back in shock for a few seconds until he rounded the corner, then got to work moving Naruto.

**Back With Naruto's Team**

Grr... "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO NARUTO?!", Sakura screamed in annoyance. The remaining members of their team had searched throughout almost all of the local forest, and they still had no clue where Naruto was. "HE'S SUCH AN IDIOT!! HE PROBABLY RAN OFF TO THE NEAREST RAMEN STAND, WHILE WE'RE STUCK HERE LOOKING FOR HIM!!! IF THIS IS HIS IDEA OF A NEW KIND OF PRANK, I'LL GUT HIM WHEN I FIND HIM!", Sakura said while they were running through the forest.

Kakashi decided that it was best that they head home. Any messages they sent home would have taken 3 days to get there, then 3 days to get back- and only IF the weather was favorable. It was worth the 4-day trip, which would not only give them a chance to deliver the message that Naruto was gone, but also a chance to pass the task of tracking down Naruto to other ninja more suited to tracking.

"... AND THEN I'LL BURN HIM ALIVE!!!", Sakura finished with a growl, pulling Kakashi out of his thoughts.

'Sakura may sound furious, but under all that, she's really worried about Naruto...' thought Kakashi, seeing the slightest sign of a pout on Sakura's face.

'And I don't think Sasuke's said a word since Naruto disappeared...' Kakashi glanced over at Sasuke, and saw a completely blank expression on his face.

'But still... This can't be good. What if Akatsuki somehow tracked us here? This doesn't seem like their last attack, but they could have put another one of their members on this mission- one whose plans aren't as obvious as their last attempt was... If the Akatsuki- or anyone else, for that matter- managed to unseal the nine-tailed fox...' Kakashi paled slightly.

'We wouldn't stand a chance.'


	4. Part Four: All Tied Up

Author's Note: Thanks to all of you who have reviewed- you've really motivated me. This time, the chapter is longer. It would have been even longer, had I not wanted to ask a question before going on: Should I put the torture scenes in here? Are you all able to handle that? Maybe I should post them in one or two chapters with alert notes at the top? (The scenes I have in mind are going to get very dark and gory… These next few chapters may force the story into T or even M-rating… If you don't mind, I'll stick them in with a warning. If no one wants them in, I may just leave them out…)

There was darkness. Darkness, all around, everywhere. Nothing but darkness.

'Where am I? What is this? ... Is this a dream?'

Not finding the answer, Naruto began to look around. As he tried to pull himself to his feet, he realized that his arms were pulled behind his back, attached at the wrist. It wasn't handcuffs, but definitely wasn't rope...

'It's... some kind of... wire or something', Naruto thought, giving it a slight tug to test its sharpness and durability. He felt it bite into his arms slightly, but not enough to draw blood. The sensation traveled past his wrists, spiraling across both of his forearms and ending with a small pinch at the insides of his elbows.

'That's odd. Normally they'd just wrap wire around your wrists, or something. I've never seen anyone wrap it up past where it ties bef-' Naruto was pulled out of his thoughts as he cried out in shock and discomfort. To him, it felt like small trails of lava were crawling along his skin in the exact places where the wire was. In trying to get away from the burning wire, he tugged just a bit too hard, embedding the wire into his arms. Once the wire drew blood, the pain it gave him multiplied. Naruto pulled at the wire again, trying to escape from the searing pain it was causing. He screamed even louder as the wire's heat increased even more.

"Foolish brat. Haven't you realized that the more you tug at it, the hotter it gets? The only way to stop it is to sit still."

Naruto was in too much pain to look for the owner of the voice. Instead, he focused all of his attention on sitting perfectly still. For a couple of seconds, the unbearable pain continued to make him scream until at last the wire started to cool. Once the wire stopped burning his arms, Naruto looked around. He didn't see anything around him but the darkness that had originally confused him.

"Who the hell are you?! Where are you? Why am I here?!", Naruto yelled back to the voice that had helped him.

"Hn.", said the voice, somewhat offended. Suddenly, there was no longer darkness surrounding Naruto. Instead, there was a complete nothingness.

"Agh! What the hell?!", Naruto screamed.

"I see you're not used to the light.", the voice said, smirking.

Slowly, Naruto's eyes adjusted. He saw what he recognized to be a cell, much cleaner than the one he was in before. There was no longer a stench of death, but a hospital-like sanitary smell. Standing in front of him was the man who claimed to have kidnapped him. The man grinned as Naruto met his gaze.

Naruto growled, "What the hell am I-"

"Silence!", the man commanded. Naruto stopped yelling.

'I guess if I'm his prisoner, then I really have no choice but to listen... That bastard! When I get outta here..!' Naruto glared at the man as he continued.

"Those wires were specially designed by me. They have a coat of a special type of poison, one that creates a burning feeling wherever it enters the body from. The more poison there is in the body, the worse the sensation gets, and the more the victim struggles to escape from it, creating even more pain for themselves." The man paused as he walked over to Naruto.

"What's your point?!", Naruto spat out at the man as he approached. The man smirked and shook his head.

"You still don't get it, do you?" The man's face turned cold. "You are ours. We own you. You are nothing but a possession, something for us to do with as we please. An animal to be trained." Naruto looked somewhat confused, but still glared at the man. Naruto's glare intensified as the man crouched down to his level, looking directly into his eyes.

"Will you cooperate with us? I'm only asking as a formality- I know you won't. No one ever does on the first try."

"Screw you, bastard!", Naruto growled, confirming the man's statement. The man stood up, sighing and walking toward the door.

"I suppose I'm forced to convince you now that you've refused." The man flipped another switch on the wall, and Naruto heard mechanical sounds as one of the concrete walls sunk backward, and slid away to reveal a room slightly larger than the one he was currently in. The hidden room was packed full of metallic instruments of all different shapes and sizes, all of them organized in large glass display cases lining the walls. The man pulled a whip from where it hung on his belt, and cracked it right in front of Naruto's face. Naruto flinched, and groaned in discomfort as he moved his arms slightly and the poisoned wires began to sear his skin again.

"Hello. I'm Bari, and I'll be torturing you today!", Bari said with a sadistic but sweet smile.

Naruto shuddered.

'Oh crap...'

A repeat of what I asked above:

Should I put the torture scenes in here? Are you all able to handle that? Maybe I should post them in one or two chapters with alert notes at the top? (The scenes I have in mind are going to get very dark and gory… These next few chapters may force the story into T or even M-rating… If you don't mind, I'll stick them in with a warning. If no one wants them in, I may just leave them out…)


	5. Part Five: Sealed!

Author's Note: THIS CHAPTER DOES NOT INCLUDE GRAPHIC TORTURE. THAT COMES IN NEXT CHAPTER. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I'm sorry it took so long to type this, but with an unclear idea of where this story was headed (that is now completely cured) and school starting again, I didn't manage to finish it. I am going to include all of the torture scenes that I asked if I should include, they're just not in this chapter ( I thought they were going to be, but then, I was unsure of how to start this chapter. Then, this chapter took hold of me forcefully and practically wrote itself. It gave itself its own plot twist that I had never thought of before typing this… It freaked me out at the time. Just a bit.) Next chapter, which I've already started on, there WILL be graphic torture. And yes, I did make this chapter very long! Especially since it's been so long since I updated.

By the way, with this story, I've tied my highest number of reviews record, my c2 record, and my faves record, and broken my alert record, my chapter record, and completely obliterated my hits record. THANK YOU ALL!!

COMMENCE WITH THE STORY!! -->

Bari paced back and forth in front of the spot where Naruto sat, tapping his chin as if in thought. "Well, first things first, I suppose.", he said, hanging his whip from his belt. He formed a hand sign, and held out his other hand. All of the wire that had been wrapped around Naruto's arms now unwrapped itself and flew into Bari's hand.

Naruto immediately put his arms up, and readied himself to attack. Bari looked at his fighting stance, and laughed.

"You have no chance of escaping- I told you that before. But I must commend you on your determination.", Bari said with a smirk. He formed a set of five hand signs, and a set of thick metal handcuffs bound Naruto's wrists together.

"Now hold still.", Bari said, walking toward Naruto. Naruto immediately began backing up, looking for any way to defend himself. Before he could come up with any sort of plan, he was hit in the shoulder with a senbon. He felt his entire body go numb, and he fell over, not feeling any pain from colliding with the cement floor.

"I told you to hold still.", Bari said, attaching a chain to the handcuffs, "This process would be much easier if you would follow my commands." He held down a button on the wall, and Naruto was pulled upward by the chain until his toes just barely touched the ground. Bari walked over to the glass cases where the instruments were kept. He picked up a pair of thick scissors and walked back to where the paralyzed Naruto was hanging from the ceiling. He then pulled the senbon out of Naruto's shoulder before cutting off his orange and blue coat, and the black shirt under it.

"Can you feel anything yet?", he asked Naruto, placing the scissors back in the case. Naruto didn't respond, but Bari still saw his muscles twitching slightly- a sure sign that he had regained control of his body. 'Just as I thought- his recovery time is at least three times shorter than even the average ninja.'

Bari took the whip from his belt, and circled around so that he was standing a few feet behind Naruto. He cracked the whip just close enough for Naruto to feel the air rushing across his skin as it sounded. Naruto shuddered, trying to focus on how the room seemed much colder without his coat instead of the beating that he knew was coming.

"Tell me: Who is your Hokage?", Bari said, his voice both threatening and sweet at the same time. Naruto didn't answer.

'Just don't tell him anything. He's an enemy of the village. If I tell him anything, everyone's in danger!', Naruto thought, closing his eyes tight. Bari brought the whip down across his left shoulder blade, breaking the skin and causing Naruto to cry out.

"Who is your Hokage?", Bari said, slightly louder. Again, Naruto didn't answer. This time, Bari flung the whip across Naruto's back three times, drawing a horizontal line of blood. Naruto whimpered as he was hit with the whip. He could feel the blood starting to drip down his back.

"Who is your Hokage?!", Bari demanded. Naruto was silent. Bari whipped Naruto five times in various directions, almost forming some sort of asterisk pattern. Naruto managed to keep himself from making any kind of sound.

"Who-" Bari brought the whip down on Naruto's back once, "is-" and again, "your-" and a third time, "Hokage?!", and yet another time. Naruto had forced himself into meditation. He began to try to find the Fox.

Though Naruto searched throughout himself for the Fox's room, he was having trouble finding it. Finally, he found where the room was. He raced inside, only to feel a jolt of electricity go through his entire body as he was thrown backwards from the room. Picking himself off of the floor, he looked inside. The Fox was still there, behind the cage, but there was a seal placed on the doorway from the inside of the room.

"Wh- What the hell?!", Naruto shouted. The Fox's face moved into sight. "I see you've finally noticed, brat. That man somehow managed to create a barrier between us. You are sealed out of here so you can't take my chakra. He is very clever- he and I are the only ones who can remove that seal, and I would need to physically pull the sealing tag off, which I can't do without you pulling MY sealing tag off." The Fox snarled, "When I get out of here, I swear I'll eat him!"

Naruto growled. "Well, what the hell am I supposed to do now?!"

"You? You're supposed to get yourself out of this mess without getting us both killed!", the Fox yelled.

Suddenly, there was a great whooshing sound, and Naruto found himself being pulled away from the Fox's room, and through the corridors of his mind until a fierce jolt of pain hit him. He screamed loudly for a few seconds before he could catch himself. Bari's laughter sent shivers down Naruto's spine.

"You can't run from me, no matter how hard you try.", Bari said with a smirk.

"..What-", Naruto started, but was cut off by Bari, "A special jutsu that forces a person to regain consciousness. I made it myself." Naruto groaned. "You don't like it? Well, I can understand, because of the circumstances, but you have to admit that it's very useful. I never need to wait for a victim to regain consciousness to continue an interrogation.", Bari said with a smile, putting away his whip. He went to the instrument cases, and picked up the scissors again.

Naruto shivered. His back was wet with blood, and the room wouldn't have been warm by any standards. As Bari cut apart and removed his pants, he shivered uncontrollably. 'It's freezing in here!', Naruto thought, trying not to shiver as much. Bari smirked at the now-naked Naruto, "Are you cold?" He gave a dark grin, "Well, if you're lucky, the blood flow to your extremities will slow, and you won't lose as much blood." His grin became even wider.

"Not that I would let that happen."

Naruto almost whimpered as Bari came closer. He lifted Naruto's chin, forcing him to meet his eyes. Naruto was unable to stop the look of panic that flashed across his face. "You could stop this, you know..." Bari said, his voice fading into a smile. He leaned even closer to Naruto's face. "All you have to do..." Bari leaned over to whisper in Naruto's ear. "Is tell me who your Hokage is...", he said, pulling back immediately after he said it so he could watch Naruto's reaction.

Saying that to him sparked Naruto's rage. He glared at the man with a burning hate. "Like hell I will!", Naruto growled out. Bari's smirk faded, but was soon replaced by a small smile. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into.", Bari said, walking over to one of the glass cases. Naruto had finally managed to stop himself from shivering, partially through effort, and partially because his body had gotten used to the cold. He closed his eyes tight, trying to block out reality. 'Sakura... Sasuke... Please... Get me the hell outta here!'

Back with Naruto's Team

Kakashi sighed. He was very worried about Naruto, though he didn't really show it. They had finished the day's journey, and had just finished setting up camp. Things were definitely more silent without the blond, and no one dared to break the silence that surrounded them. No one had said a word as they set everything up, each of them automatically doing something so there would be little time to think. Sakura was building a fire, while Sasuke had gone to catch some fish for dinner from a nearby stream. Kakashi had his book out, but was too absorbed in his thoughts to read. His mind kept tossing theories at him about what had really happened, and where Naruto was now. Each was worse than the one that came before it.

'At least there's only three days' journey left... Then we can at least send help this way.'

Kakashi looked down, and realized that he didn't understand anything that was going on in his book. Flipping through it, he found that he must have automatically turned the pages without reading them while he was thinking. He had to flip back 30 pages just to find a part of the book that he recognized.

With a sigh, he put his book away and ran through a list of what was already finished. He noticed that no one had gotten water from the stream yet. He stood up, picking up their water bucket from next to the campfire that Sakura had already finished making. 'Oh well... I suppose there's no point in worrying, since there's really nothing we can do...' Kakashi sighed and headed for the stream.

End-of-Story Author's Note: Thank you for reading! The next chapter is going to be… much gorier. I'm not sure what exactly will take place, but Bari has chosen his next weapon of torture… " I would put a quote of the next chapter in here, but I think it might give away too much about the next chapter, and I want to surprise all of you… Sorry! Hopefully, I'll get the next chapter out very soon. Unfortunately, I have no idea when "hopefully, soon!" might end up being… Thank you again for reading!

( I feel… awkward putting in such cheerful author's notes in such a… not-so-cheerful story…)

(And yes... I DID wake up at 3AM, and start working on this... It's now 540AM, and I'm working on the next chapter...)

(Almost) Any comments and suggestions are welcome :D


	6. Part Six: Torture

((OMG CHAPTER 6! FURTHEST I'VE EVER MADE IT!!)) Author's Note: Chapter 6 at last! Things have been crazy lately, especially with school starting and the convention coming up in a week… I really did want to update, I just never managed to find the time… Anyway, this chapter isn't as gory as my mind originally made it, but my mind was… acting weird, and rewrote it… oddly. Yeah.

Picking up a wide strip of black cloth and what looked like a cheese slicer, but wider, Bari took his time walking back to where Naruto was handcuffed. He stuck the handle of the instrument into his belt so that his hands were free. Naruto knew that he was dragging it out just to add to the tension, and his face tightened with frustration. Bari circled around behind Naruto, stepping very slowly. He didn't stop until he stood directly behind Naruto, and reached around Naruto's neck. Naruto was somewhat confused with what was going on at first, but realized what Bari was doing when he saw the black cloth. '..A blindfold... Crap.'

He closed his eyes as Bari wrapped the cloth over them, and tied it securely behind his head. Bari wrapped his arms around Naruto, placing his mouth right beside Naruto's ear. Naruto's muscles tensed, and he trembled slightly when thinking about how he would be tortured next. Bari didn't miss this, and chuckled, sending shivers down Naruto's spine.

"Do you know why I have you blindfolded, Naruto? Hmm?", Bari said. Naruto jumped as Bari trailed a finger down Naruto's bare chest. "I did this because not only does it add to your fear, but it actually makes all your senses sharper. You'll feel everything I do next much more than you would have without it." Bari chuckled as he pulled away from Naruto, dragging his hands across Naruto's chest as he did.

Naruto felt his upper left arm being touched. He wondered if it was some bizarre form of Indian rope burn before realizing that Bari was massaging it. "That feels good, right? It doesn't hurt any, does it?", Bari asked in a sound barely above a whisper. 'What's he getting at? Is he trying to bribe me or something? It won't work! I swore I wouldn't tell him anything no matter what, and I'm not gonna back down! I don't care what he-' Naruto screamed, throwing his head back and trying to get away from whatever was hurting his arm. Though he couldn't see it, Bari had taken the cheese slicer-like instrument out of his belt, and pushed the wire against Naruto's skin until it was embedded deep into his arm.

Bari chuckled darkly, "You can't get away, no matter how you struggle." Naruto screamed again, "GET IT OFF!!!" "Then tell me who your Hokage is.", Bari demanded. Naruto moaned loudly, but gave no reply. Bari twisted the instrument, and Naruto screamed louder. Finally, Bari pulled the instrument back out of Naruto's arm, making Naruto cry out in pain. "Won't you just answer me? I can stop this right now. I'll even find you some pain medication. All you have to do is cooperate...", Bari said temptingly. All he got in response was a tired whimper.

Bari sighed. "Well, if you won't cooperate..." Bari started to massage the inside of Naruto's right forearm, causing Naruto to flinch and whimper again as he moved his injured arm. "So, did you see what I meant about wearing a blindfold? It really does make everything sharper, doesn't it?" Bari frowned when he received no answer from Naruto. He brought his hand along Naruto's jawline, tilting Naruto's head upward once his fingers settled on Naruto's chin. "Answer me.", Bari demanded again. After a few seconds of silence, he brought the instrument up to Naruto's forearm and, in one swipe, shaved the first layer of skin off of Naruto's arm. For a split second, all Naruto could feel was a small breeze on his arm. He let out a bloodcurdling scream once he felt the pain from it.

Bari must've coated its blade with the same poison on the wires sometime after the other cut with it because Naruto's arm felt like it had been sliced and then pressed with a hot iron. Bari chuckled slightly as Naruto screamed, "You must have recognized my special poison by now. Unpleasant, isn't it?" Naruto pulled at the handcuffs, writhing from the pain. As the burning in his arm subsided, Naruto calmed down and his screams faded into whimpers of discomfort.

"If you would only answer my questions, there would be no need for me to torture you. Please, give in- everyone does in the end anyway, and we can give you a full meal- we'll even give you pain medicine and treat your wounds. Just give in, and answer me!", Bari said. Naruto was starting to find Bari's offer somewhat convincing. He realized that he was practically starving- he had no idea how much time had passed, and his last meal had been a few hours before his last mission, placing the last time he had eaten... quite a long time away.

'No! I can't give in, not ever! If.. If I give in, then I've failed at everything... Everything I ever wanted.. will be gone...'

Naruto managed to find the willpower to resist his gurgling stomach, and Bari's tempting offer. After a minute or two, Bari became impatient. "Well? Yes or no?", Bari asked with anticipation.

"Go to hell, bastard!", Naruto ground out. Bari sighed.

"Oh well. I was hoping for a short coffee break before moving on to a few other torture sessions, but...", he shrugged, "I suppose I'll have to stay here for another round." Bari suddenly grinned demonically. There was a flame of excitement and anticipation that had just shone from his eyes, making Naruto shudder from something close to fear. After all, there hadn't been a prisoner that resisted this much in a long time...

Bari walked out of Naruto's torture cell. Upon seeing Kizaro and Fuuna guarding the cell from the outside, he smirked and stretched his arms a bit. "Was I in there that long that the two of you finished your other shift, and are now on the next day's shift?" Kizaro nodded, "Yes sir. If I may ask, what took so long, sir?" Bari chuckled, "That kid really has some spirit to him- it took me the whole time in there just to break him."

The guards' eyes widened. "It took that long, sir?", Kizaro asked. "Without any break, sir?", Fuuna added. Bari just smiled and nodded, "It's a pity we'd never be able to convince him to join us willingly- he's 100 percent loyal and 110 percent stubborn. Everyone breaks down eventually, but I know for a fact that he holds the record for resisting my torture methods. It would have been my pleasure to have such a loyal person under my command. That was the most fun I've had in years."

The guards looked at Bari, intrigued, and obviously wanting him to tell them just how he had broken the boy. Bari had been expecting this, and began to tell the story.

"Well, I started out by letting him try to escape from those wires I had you bind him with. After that, I tried whipping him, which gave little progress and made him fall unconcious. I forced him awake, and tried using the fork-handled wire with the coating of my poison on it. That didn't work, so I tried hitting a few pressure points. There was still little progress, so I tried using a blowtorch on him. Still, nothing worked. I then tried stabbing him repeatedly with the small knives." Bari paused for awhile, seemingly ending the story.

"Then, the knives worked, sir?", Kizaro asked.

Bari grinned, "No. And I bet you'll never guess what I used that worked."

Author's Note: Ooh, cliffhanger! LOL. Sorry I did this, but it's the easiest way for me to lead into another chapter without having to stay up another hour or so to type up the next chapter… I'm sorry about it, but it's 157AM, I've been up non-stop since about 530AM today (or is that yesterday?) and I'm about to fall asleep with my face on the keyboard… I'm having enough trouble as is with reading what's on the screen when I type, and also with proofreading and basically everything else. Goodnight, all!

Please R&R- I won't update until I get 2 reviews! (Normally I don't put anything like this on my stories, but since all of you have been such good reviewers… :D I figured it couldn't hurt! )


	7. Part Seven: A New Mission

Author's Note: Whew! This one took a while to write- I just got stuck on parts of it… Thanks to everyone for all the reviews:D I got… 9, I think. It was definitely over my goal of… ?? Anyway, it was over my goal. Sorry for the long wait- I've been very busy. I was able to block out the next chapter or so, even though it's not written yet, so hopefully I can update soon. Let's see… Thanks to Choclatbandit, AnimeSnowflake, TheLittleBlackDog, Animeskid, Mood-chan, Bombay07, Fungy Fungus, Yuffie's Ninja Insanity, Seppaku, Esike, ShivaVixen, Crimson-soul-lifes-blood, and EightTailedWolf, I have 25 reviews:D I'd mention all the faves (8) and alerts (18) that I have, but you'd probably all just want to read the story, right?

The two guards were trying their hardest to guess what method of torture got Naruto to talk, but without any luck.

"Electricity?", asked Fuuna.

"No, though it did make him scream once or twice."

"Repeated beatings?", asked Kizaro.

"Wrong again. That barely made him grunt."

"Breaking some bones with the limb stretcher?", asked Kizaro again as Fuuna scratched his head.

"Still wrong. I tried it with one of his arms, then one of his legs, but he didn't budge."

"Then what?", asked Fuuna, completely stumped.

Bari grinned, "I used the saw, and started slowly cutting through his leg. He was extremely brave about it, I must admit, but in the end, he broke when I was about two-thirds of the way through the bone."

The guards both laughed, both of them wincing at the idea yet finding it entertaining all the same.

"The medics say that he'll be fully healed in about a month, though I estimate it to be more like a week and a half. After that, we can start to retrain him... Our plans are working perfectly. At this rate, we'll be the most powerful group on the continent by this time next year.", Bari smirked and turned to leave, "Back to work, Kizaro, Fuuna."

"Yes sir!", both said at the same time.

Two Days Later With Naruto's Team

Kakashi allowed himself to relax a bit as they headed toward the Hokage tower. He had been on edge since Naruto disappeared, having to concentrate more than usual to keep his speed at a rate that the two genin still with him could match. For the past four days, he had wanted nothing more than to get back to the village and get help. Hopefully, the tracking team that would be deployed would be able to find Naruto, or at least find some trail left by him.

"Sensei, wait up!", Sakura yelled. Kakashi noticed he had been pulling ahead again, and slowed down. 'Maybe relaxing isn't the best idea just yet...', he thought with a sigh.

Once they had gotten to the Hokage tower, they all tensed. Explaining Naruto's disappearance to Tsunade was not something that they wanted to do, but if they didn't, he might never be found. After a short argument with the ninja outside Tsunade's office, they were sent straight in.

"Lady Hokage.", Kakashi said, getting Tsunade's attention. Luckily, she wasn't busy at the time- she was the only one in the Hokage office.

"Kakashi? What is it?", Tsunade said. Kakashi was still contemplating how to explain everything to Tsunade a few seconds later, when she interrupted him.

"...Where's Naruto?", Tsunade said quietly, turning paler by the moment.

"Naruto has... disappeared.", Kakashi stated. Tsunade's eyes widened slightly, "Then-"

"There was no body, nor any body parts. We found no blood, and absolutely no trail. Naruto has disappeared.", Kakashi stated again.

"Then… He's not dead?", Tsunade asked nervously.

"We don't know. He disappeared in the middle of our last operation. We searched the surrounding area, and found nothing. We returned since it was only one extra day to return than to send a message by bird.", Kakashi answered. Tsunade paused for a minute in thought, then sighed.

"Roshi!", Tsunade yelled to the ninja outside her office, "Summon Kurenai and her rookie team to my office now."

"Yes, ma'am!", Roshi yelled from outside.

"Wait, Roshi! On second thought, also summon Shikamaru Nara. And prepare a messenger hawk to carry a message to the Sand Village.", Tsunade yelled back. She waited until all five people she summoned had arrived. She rubbed the sides of her head to try and soothe the headache this problem was giving her, but found it did nothing. Sighing, she started her explanation.

"Everyone, Naruto is missing. From what Kakashi told me, they were finishing up a mission in a small country four days' journey from here when Naruto disappeared. He and his team could find no trace of Naruto. Your job is to find Naruto, and if need be, rescue him. Kakashi, you and your team will go back with Kurenai, her team, and Shikamaru. You know where he disappeared, and that is the best place to start looking for him." Tsunade took a deep breath, and let it out in a sigh before continuing.

"I hate to break confidence, but it is necessary for this mission for all ninja involved to know of it. Sakura. Sasuke. Kiba. Hinata. Shino. Shikamaru. You must never tell anyone about this- it's an S-classed secret. Twelve years ago, when the village was attacked by the Nine-Tailed Fox, the Fourth Hokage did not defeat it." There were sounds of confusion from everyone but Kakashi, Kurenai, and Shino.

"Then-", Sakura started, but stopped when Tsunade held up a hand.

"I'm getting there. Anyway, the Fourth Hokage was unable to fully defeat it, so he sacrificed his life to use a forbidden sealing technique. He needed a newborn child to seal the fox within, and that child just happened to be Naruto, who was born the day of the final battle." There were numerous gasps from Tsunade's audience.

"The fox is sealed within him, but he is not the fox. It gives him extra chakra reserves, and makes his wounds heal faster. Unfortunately, there is an S-class organization that is interested in collecting the tailed beasts that may or may not be the reason behind his disappearance. The organization is known as Akatsuki, and they are all S-class criminals. They wear long black coats with a red cloud design on them. If you see one of them, run without question."

Tsunade noticed Sasuke's eyes widen when she mentioned the Akatsuki's uniform coat. Currently, Sasuke was glaring at the ground with his hands clenched into fists and his Sharingan activated. 'I wonder how he will handle this mission... If Akatsuki is behind this, I doubt he'll come back unharmed, especially with his tendency to attack instead of running away.'

"Any questions?", Tsunade asked. Receiving no replies, she continued, "What I have told you will never leave this room. It was determined that none of your generation should know about the Nine-Tailed Fox being sealed inside of Naruto in hopes that he might live a normal life. If you tell anyone, not only is there a large punishment for it, but it could ruin Naruto's life. Now, get going! Be on guard- we're not sure why Naruto has disappeared, and I don't want any more disappearances!" Tsunade watched as the large team departed, then sighed.

'I really hope that they can find him... Wherever he is...'

Tsunade shook her head, sat down at her desk, and started writing a warning letter to the Sand Village.

Author's End Note: Gasp! They know about foxy now! Oh well, don't worry- I know that was a frequently-used plot-twist (or lack thereof from how often it's used…), but this story… Let's just say it's unpredictable enough that I'm not even sure where it will end, even though I'm the author…

Hope you enjoyed it so far:D


	8. Part Eight: Recuperation

:D First off, thank you all for reading! I'm so excited- 34 reviews, 25 alerts, 10 faves, and almost 2000 hits total on this story. I'm amazed by the numbers- much higher than any of my other stories . Also, I'm sorry to say that there is still some torture left… I know that a good portion of you probably don't want that, but it's essential to the story, so… Sorry! Moving on.

Naruto groaned as he opened his eyes. White light filled his squinted eyes, forcing him to shut them again. He tried moving a hand up to cover his face, but found that his muscles reacted sluggishly. After a few seconds, his hand finally covered his eyes. He felt somewhat like he was floating. 'I wonder... just how much pain medicine they had to pump into me to make me feel like this...', he thought with a morbid inner chuckle.

He finally succeeded in opening his eyes, looking around him. Almost everything in the small room was white. He was on a hospital bed, with an IV in his arm and several sensors attached to his chest. He gave a whining, pitiful laugh that turned into a moan at the end. 'I... hate hospitals... I'm gettin' outta here!', Naruto thought, attempting to sit up.

He managed to sit up without much trouble, even though his right forearm was in a splint, but as he went to swing his legs over the edge of the bed, he felt a sharp twinge from one of them, and a slight throb from the other. He grunted in surprise and pain, squinting his eyes shut and trying to keep as still as possible. 'That's right... My legs...'

Once the pain had all but slipped away, Naruto started to examine his legs. His left leg, the one that hurt the most, was in a splint and covered by bandages. He remembered that it was the one that the limb stretcher had been used on, creating multiple fractures across the lower length of his leg. His right leg also had bandages on it, but only around his calf, which was where Bari had decided to saw through it.

Luckily, it was almost entirely healed, and hadn't been fully amputated. Unfortunately, after more than a day's worth of refusing to give in to the torture, it had caused Naruto to break down and cooperate with Bari.

'I can't believe I did that... I gotta get outta here and tell that old hag Tsunade what I told him...', Naruto thought. He suddenly went cold with thoughts of the amount of damage the information could do. 'What if... What if he uses the stuff I told him to invade Konoha? It... It'd be all my fault...', his breath hitched, 'Anyone that died...' Naruto bit back a sob as tears poured down his face. He let himself cry. After all, why bother to hold it all in when there was no one to see him acting like a child?

Once his tears had mostly dried up, he carefully rolled onto his side and curled up, shivering slightly. He pulled the hospital blankets over himself, and took a few deep breaths. 'Well, there's really… nothin' I can do right now... I guess I should just wait until I'm healed enough to walk, and then escape...', Naruto sighed as his thoughts trailed off into a deep sleep.

When Naruto woke up, the light in his room was still on. This time, there was a hospital tray next to the bed with some food on it. Naruto was a bit excited at first, because it had been the rumbling of his still-empty stomach that had woke him in the first place. His features wrinkled in disgust when he saw what type of food was on the tray. Out of all the breakfast foods, oatmeal had to be his least favorite.

'Just my luck...', Naruto thought, groaning. He was debating on whether or not to eat it when a second wave of hunger from his stomach made the decision for him.

'Stupid flavorless goop!', Naruto thought as he shoved the oatmeal down his throat. 'They could've at least given me something to flavor it with!' Even though he didn't like the taste, he felt much better after finishing the bowl of oatmeal. 'At least it was better than nothing...'

Naruto sat still for all of seventeen seconds before officially deciding that he was bored. He checked over all of his wounds. The gashes in his arms from the wire and being stabbed were all but gone, having scabbed over with scabs the size of large shallow cuts. The skin that had been sliced off of his right arm was covered by the splint, but from poking at the bandages covering the skin, it seemed to be mostly healed. All of his bruises were gone, and the small electrical burns were, as far as he could tell, fully healed. The cuts from the whips were completely gone, and his legs, though painful, seemed like they were at least partially healed because the one only throbbed dully, and he couldn't feel the broken bone fragments moving around in his other leg like he could during the interrogation.

Well, at least he was close to being well enough to escape. 'It can't be that much longer, can it? Only a week or so...', Naruto thought. He shifted from sitting up to laying down flat on his back, noting that the pain medicine they were giving him was still at a very high dose.

Left to his own imagination, Naruto started to look for pictures on the ceiling, made from the tiny bumps across its surface.

By the time someone opened the door to his hospital room, Naruto had switched from looking for pictures on the ceiling to examining the wall opposite the door. Hearing the doorknob click and the door's hinges creak, he tensed, anticipating any attack that might come. The sound of footsteps seemed to revolve around Naruto's ears. 'Were those... ?' Naruto shuddered, his skin turning numerous shades paler at the thought. 'It's him again, isn't it?'

The click of Bari's feet against the tiled floor was agonizingly slow. 'What does he want with me?! I told him all he wanted to know, he said the torture would be over!!' A dark chuckle was heard as Bari finally reached the side of Naruto's bed.

"Hello again. Did you miss me?"

Naruto gasped as Bari grabbed his upper arm where the healing stab and wire wounds were, finding that they hadn't healed as much as he had originally thought. Bari rolled him over so that they were face to face. "I bet you did miss me. You're shocked speechless", Bari said mischievously. "Then again, you thought you'd never see me again, didn't you?"

Naruto unconsciously nodded his head in agreement. If being tortured had taught him anything, it was that Bari hated not being answered.

"Well, you're definitely wrong there. You and I are going to become close friends, Naruto... Very close friends..."

The group of Konoha ninja was exhausted by the time they stopped to set up camp. They were only an hour or so away from the small town where Team 7's mission had been, but it was getting dark, and they needed their rest. Through sheer anxiousness, they had somehow packed the four full days' worth of travel into three days at a grueling pace. At least when they woke, they would only be an hour away from their mission, and they would be refreshed and ready to track down Naruto, wherever he might be. There was only one thought on each of their minds as they climbed into their bedrolls.

'Naruto... Please be alright...'

Back in Konoha Village, Tsunade was in the midst of a very important meeting with the village council and the clan elders.

"What do you mean, 'The bathhouse condition in Sector Four is unacceptable'?! We just renovated that bathhouse last year!'", Tsume Inuzuka roared.

"Well, half the equipment doesn't work right anymore! Besides, the renovation job was a complete failure. The equipment from before then worked better at 30 years old than that set of junk does now!", Hiashi Hyuuga argued back. After a few more words were exchanged on the subject, a good part of them insults being thrown between any who voiced their opinion, Tsunade snapped. She screamed in frustration, gaining the attention of most of the people present.

"Will you all just knock it off!! We've got more important issues to attend to than redoing a bathhouse!", Tsunade yelled, standing up and slamming her hands on top of the desk in front of her. Letting off a slight glare, she picked up a pen from her desk and chucked it as hard as she could in a non-lethal way at a head of brown hair atop one of the desks. It bounced off the man's head, earning her a painful grunt and an annoyed look as Shikaku Nara sat up and rubbed the spot where he was hit. With a heavy sigh, Tsunade finally started to explain what had happened.

"Naruto Uzumaki, the container of the Nine-tailed Fox's spirit, has disappeared." There were several gasps and a few soft curses. "I've sent the best team of ninja we can afford to send right now to track him down, but we have to be prepared to face the worst. The criminal organization Akatsuki may or may not have gotten their hands on him. If they have, it's a safe bet to assume that he is most likely dead, and that the Nine-tailed Fox may now be under their control, or at least within their arsenal. This is a threat to the safety of the village equal to, maybe even greater than the threat posed by Orochimaru's attempted invasion."

"What do we do?!", Tsume growled.

"How do we prepare for this?!", Hiashi cried.

"Isn't there some possibility that Akatsuki isn't involved?", Choza Akimichi asked.

"We stay on guard." Tsunade answered. "And yes, it's possible that Akatsuki's not involved. But I don't see how anyone not in that group could manage to capture and hold a ninja of Naruto's ability without leaving any trace of evidence as to what happened to him. According to various scouting and reconnaissance missions that have been done in the area, there aren't any dangerous rogue ninja in those parts. In fact, there wasn't a single rogue ninja reported in that country or any of the countries surrounding it. It's a complete mystery."

"But what if someone has captured him like that? Are you sure that we'll be able to find him?", Shikaku asked, joining the conversation.

"Or that we'd want to rescue him, for that matter. He's out of our hands. Why should we care what happens to him?", Inoichi Yamanaka stated coldly. Tsunade glared at him as she answered.

"Even if he's been captured by someone else, the Akatsuki will surely attempt to find him and kidnap him from wherever he is now. If they find him before we do, and manage to take him, then we're in severe danger. Got it?" Tsunade said, barely controlling her anger.

Inoichi scowled, but nodded nonetheless.

"So, what do we do now?", Choza asked.

"We wait." Tsunade replied simply.

End of Chapter 8-

So, did you enjoy the extra-long chapter? I was going to cut it short and use the last scene in the next chapter, but I figured I might as well finish it and post it, since I was already halfway through. Hope you enjoyed it!


	9. Part Nine: Training?

Author's Note: Hey! Sorry the updates have slowed down, but schoolwork just picked up, and Halloween is one of the busy seasons, and I've also been working on writing more per update :D Chapter 9 already! You all may be glad to hear this (I know one of you will- I'd insert the username, but I don't remember it off the top of my head, and my internet is temporarily gone…)- Naruto gets his pants back:D I know they've been missing for awhile, so he'll finally have actual clothing on again! LOL. START!!

Two weeks had passed, and there was no sign of Naruto. The group of Konoha ninja that had been assigned to find him had already returned home. Team 7 was devastated when they were called home- especially Sakura. They wanted nothing more than to find their missing teammate, but orders were orders, and they were needed back home. Their village couldn't afford any weakness at all, especially after the recent invasion by Orochimaru, the Sound and Sand villages.

As time went by, the ninja got back into the rhythm of their work. It can't be said that things went back to normal, as they couldn't consider it normal until Naruto was found. The damage done to them by losing Naruto was substantial. Sakura became less and less enthusiastic, and Sasuke became more and more irritable. Even Kakashi became more serious, adding more training sessions to their schedule and spending less time during them reading Jiraiya's books.

For a few months after Naruto had disappeared, Tsunade kept tight surveillance in the areas in and surrounding where the disappearance had happened, but there were no disturbances, and even more troubling- no sign of Naruto. After six months had passed, Tsunade cut the amount of surveillance in half. After a year, she had it almost completely removed from the area. By the two-year anniversary of Naruto's disappearance, she had stopped the surveillance in the area altogether.

Naruto was dragged by his hospital gown through numerous sets of corridors by Bari, who was completely unfazed by Naruto's squirming and kicking.

"Lemme go, lemme go! LET ME GO!!!", Naruto hollered as he tried unsuccessfully to wrench his hospital gown from Bari's fist.

"Next time, cooperate from the beginning, and I won't have to drag you around.", Bari said coldly as he continued down the hallway.

'My muscles are definitely not working right... But after three weeks of bed rest, whose muscles would be?', Naruto thought. Struggling to get up after having lay inactive so long, Naruto shouted after him.

"Hey! Wait! Wait up!" Naruto jogged a bit, until he was at Bari's side. "What the hell are we doing, anyway?", Naruto said rudely.

"We are going to the training grounds. I plan to train you.", Bari said with a smirk. When Naruto looked shocked at his response, Bari chuckled. "You don't expect me to take you back to Konoha, do you?"

Naruto was startled into silence. 'No... I wouldn't have thought he'd bring me home after all this... Maybe just let me go, or... Kill me, even... But still...'

"You don't think they'd accept you, do you? A child they didn't even want around to begin with- a monster- and now, returning as a traitor?", Bari chuckled deeply before continuing to speak, "You still think that you'll be Hokage one day, don't you?" Bari's chuckles broke out into all-out cackling.

"Considering your position, I doubt they'd even let you back into the country, let alone the village- and there's no way they'd let a traitor like you become Hokage. After all, how can one be trusted to defend the village with its life if they spilled all its secrets to an enemy to save itself?" Bari grinned as something in Naruto's eyes broke, and sadness washed over all his features. "That's right. They can't."

"So, you'll become one of us. It's really the only thing you can do now, since you're too young to get a job anywhere, and besides- why put all those years of hard training to waste?", Bari smirked as he finished his offer.

Naruto looked like he was in deep thought, while he sorted out his conflicting emotions. 'He's right... They probably would exile me if I returned, and I definitely couldn't become Hokage... I can't get a job anywhere, since I'm only twelve... But... I can't just turn my back on Konoha, right? I mean, they'll come and rescue me sometime, I know they will!' Having made up his mind, Naruto spoke.

"I won't turn my back on my friends! They'll rescue me for sure!", Naruto yelled. This only made Bari laugh again.

"Rescue you? Rescue YOU? You're crazy if you think that. Once you were gone, they did a quick sweep of the surrounding areas, and returned to Konoha as fast as they could, like they wanted to leave you behind. No one has been looking for you- there hasn't even been an investigation! Face it- they're not going to find you, and they're definitely not going to rescue you." Bari paused, letting Naruto consider what he had said.

"Do you understand now? Joining us is your only option.", Bari stated.

'It can't be all that bad... I mean, it's just training... No one will care if I did a little training on top of being tortured and giving out secrets... Besides, maybe I can escape from here if I get stronger... Maybe they'll even come to rescue me while I wait... It passes the time better than being in a cell would... And it's not like my training is doing anything for these guys... Not like I'm really joining up with them...' Naruto sighed heavily.

"I... I guess I'll join…"

Bari gave his biggest toothy smirk, looking more like a wild animal trying to scare off something than a happy person. "Excellent!", he said through his teeth. He finally stopped at a door, opened it, and swept his arm inward, "After you, Naruto."

Naruto groaned as he felt his entire body throb. He tried to pick himself up, but the blankets on top of him weighed his body down.

'Wait, blankets?', Naruto thought. 'Last thing I remember, I was training. I was in the middle of sparring-' His eyes shot open as he tried again to get up, but a pounding headache held him back by forcing his eyes shut again. 'I must've blacked out or something...'

Naruto winced as he tried to push the covers off of him, and his whole body throbbed again. 'Man, that training was brutal... Wasn't sure I'd live to see another day...' He decided that with his current injuries, it would definitely be better just to lay still. Having nothing to do but lay there until he managed to fall asleep despite the pain coursing through his body, he started to think about just what had happened.

Bari's methods of 'training' were fairly similar to his interrogation methods- ruthless, varying by a great amount, and very, very painful. First, he had Naruto run laps for an hour or so. Next, he did push-ups, where he sat on Naruto's back the entire time. Then, they started to spar. Bari started out with having a taijutsu-only round, then moved on to a very dangerous round of 'attack with everything you've got'.

Needless to say, Naruto was sore. Not only was he aching from moving around so much after being confined to a hospital bed, but he'd taken a high amount of damage from their sparring session. From having sat in the hospital so long after his interrogation, his muscles had deteriorated somewhat, so what would've been just a bit of a challenge ended up being the most painful training session he had ever had.

Naruto's right arm had been partially rebroken from a particularly strong kick that he tried to block. Some of the muscles in his left leg still weren't healed from being severed, which slowed him down and put many of his movements off-balance. His right leg was still fairly tender from having been broken in so many places, which stopped him from compensating for his other leg. The gashes in his arm that he had thought were fully healed broke open again and started bleeding from being hit so many times. His ribs, which had been mostly undamaged until now, were definitely bruised, if not broken. All of Bari's lightning and fire attacks hadn't helped things either. Naruto now had fresh electrical burns, along with minor burns covering a good portion of his body.

Naruto let himself relax, allowing his mind to lose the focus it had had during the 'training' session. Even though it had only lasted a couple of hours and was definitely shorter than any of the training he had done back in Konoha, he was still in the worst condition he had ever been in after training. Naruto sighed, and winced as his ribs sent a stabbing pain through his chest.

'Man, I'm beat. I'd swear that bastard was aiming for my wounds! Bastard...', Naruto thought as he growled softly, trying to find a position that he could breathe in without feeling like he'd just been hit by a load of kunai. And his thoughts were definitely on-target.

In another room, Bari smirked to himself while looking at the screen that showed Naruto's hospital room. He had cameras throughout the entire complex, and preferred to keep watch over those he had tortured and those he was 'training.'

'Seems I really put him in a lot of pain. It's too bad that he doesn't have access to the Nine-tailed Fox's chakra...', Bari chuckled as his thoughts continued. 'That might have given him a fighting chance... And it definitely wouldn't have hurt all those fresh wounds...' Bari sighed.

'It's really too bad that I have to train him before I can release that seal I put on the chakra flow out of his seal... I would've really liked to see what he could do with that chakra.'

Endnote: Well? Did you like it :D I hope so! Please, R&R! If you can't tell, the first part that was back in Konoha was an ahead-note. The part with Naruto is set three weeks after the hospital scene. Oh, and I probably won't update again for awhile, with the holiday season so close… I will not update until I have 3 reviews :D LOL (Last time I did this, I asked for 2, and got 9 or so… I'm sure 3 reviews, between all of you amazing reviewers, is like a cake-walk :D )


	10. Part Ten: An Inevitable Fate

Author's Note: Gasp! An update!! OMG! Yeah, so the semester's almost over, and I've been super busy catching up and studying… I'm really sorry I haven't posted lately! Christmas was chaotic, and everything in between was only slightly less so… I've also been working on sewing projects and other art stuff, so… Really busy! FYI, the next few chapters may take awhile, and they will probably have torture/gore again, so please remember that I warned you! Well, let's get on with the story:D

Naruto had only been sitting awake for about three-quarters of an hour when he came to a realization. 'Agh, this is so boring!! Just when I thought I was going to be up and moving around again, that bastard puts me back in the hospital!' He jumped slightly when he heard the doorknob turning, his head snapping toward the door. He moaned when the sudden movement made most, if not all, of his injuries ache. Bari walked in with a smirk on his face and closed the door behind him. Naruto mentally groaned when he saw that smirk. 'It's never a good thing when he's smirking like that...', Naruto thought.

"I've decided that your training can wait.", Bari said, smirking even more than before. 'What...?', Naruto thought as he stared at Bari.

"...Huh?", Naruto said. Bari chuckled.

"I'm giving you a week to recover, and two weeks after that to train on your own. Then you will resume your training with me.", Bari said, his eyes giving off an evil glint when he mentioned training with Naruto.

'This... Really doesn't seem like one of his ideas... It's too... generous...', Naruto wondered, truly confused as to why the man would allow him to regain his strength. 'Whether I like it or not, though, that's the way it's gonna be, I guess... I wonder what he's hiding...?'

Once the three weeks had passed, Naruto was close to being at his full original strength. He had practically trained himself into the ground doing it, pushing himself even harder than when he was learning the Rasengan. His muscles still hadn't recovered from all the inactivity, but had long since surpassed the amount of muscle he had when he first trained with Bari.

At the crack of dawn the next morning, Naruto was jolted awake by a bucket of cold water being dumped over his head. "Wake up. It's time to train.", Bari said with an evil smirk. Gasping and coughing, all Naruto could do was nod his head. As Naruto started to climb out of bed, shaking his head to get some of the water off, Bari threw a heap of cloth onto the bed next to him.

"Your old clothes are pretty close to falling apart. The others are tired of trying to mend them. Wear that instead.", Bari stated. "But-!", Naruto tried to argue. Bari shook his head. "Do not argue with me!", Bari demanded, "You will wear those willingly and throw your other clothes away, or I will shred your clothing and your skin at the same time and you can go without clothing. Pick one." Naruto started to argue again, but Bari cut him off with a glare. Naruto sighed as Bari left the room and started to get dressed.

'Well, at least that explains why my clothes always looked like new after practically being pulverized...', Naruto thought, unfolding the heap of black fabric that was his outfit. He found that the heap was made up of a loose pair of pants, a few rolls of black bandages, a pair of slip-on shoes, and a loose sleeveless kimono-style shirt with a black belt. Growling, he started to put on the outfit. He almost got tangled in the bandages while trying to wrap his forearms and shins. 'Wrapping these bandages is such a pain! How the hell am I supposed to move without getting any of this caught on anything, anyway?!' Scowling even more than before, Naruto finished getting dressed and headed out the door to his room.

He quickly found the area that he had been using for his training, and walked inside. Looking around, he saw Bari smirking and standing next to another man, who was shaking with fear. Puzzled, he walked toward the two.

"Good morning, Naruto!," Bari greeted cheerfully. 'This doesn't feel right... Since when has he ever acted like this?!,' Naruto thought nervously. "Uh.. Good morning...," Naruto replied. Bari's grin became even wider.

"I have good news for you, Naruto. If you can defeat me, I may consider removing that seal I placed on the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra... But if you lose, you must swear your allegiance to me forever.," Bari said, flashing his teeth like a predator. Naruto's eyes opened wide, and terror coursed through him, "Hell no! Why would I ever agree to anything like that?!"

Bari chuckled softly, "My dearest Naruto, when did I ever offer you a choice in the matter? You will agree to my conditions and fight, or you will forfeit by not fighting, which would make me the victor and you my slave." Naruto growled in frustration, but managed to keep a hold on his temper. 'I... Even if I did lose- which I won't!- I could still run away the first chance I get! I am not staying here with this bastard!,' Naruto thought as his hands clenched into fists.

"Now, onto our training. Today, you'll be fighting against Kosuta here", Bari gestured toward the frightened man, "Of course, I'll be controlling his movements, but he will take my place in our battle."

"Please don't hurt me!," Kosuta screamed. "Silence!," Bari said sternly. Kosuta closed his mouth but continued to quiver. Naruto glared at Bari, "You can't do that! It's not fair!!" Bari just giggled.

"But it's only fair, Naruto, that I can use any of my techniques. After all, I have allowed you to recover, and it is such a bother to be wounded myself...," Bari said casually. "You bastard!", Naruto growled and charged full-speed at Bari. Kosuta suddenly jumped between Naruto and Bari, crying out in fear as he moved. Naruto couldn't stop his attack in time, and hit Kosuta on the jaw forcefully, making Kosuta scream in pain. Naruto was sure he had heard a crack. The shock of Kosuta stepping in front of his punch made Naruto drop his guard, and he winced as Kosuta knocked the wind out of him with a kick.

'How the hell did he react so fast?! I just broke his jaw- he should be laying on the ground in pain!,' Naruto thought. Then it hit him. It was not Kosuta he was fighting- it was Bari, who was controlling Kosuta's every movement. And Bari could not feel that pain.

Naruto continued his attempts to hit Bari, but with every try he was countered by Kosuta. He soon realized that if he were to ever land a hit on Bari, he'd have to get Kosuta out of the way. With no ninja tools and his chakra levels still not at the high amounts he was used to, there was no way he could stop Kosuta without hurting him.

The fight wore on, and Naruto was exhausted. He refused to give up, but there was little chance of him winning. His chakra reserves were all but exhausted, and he was injured enough to slow him down. 'I- I won't give up! There has to be a way!', Naruto thought as he dodged another attack, 'I can't lose! I just can't!' Suddenly, Naruto felt a quick hit to the back of his neck. His whole body went limp, and slumped to the ground face-first. Naruto could hear Bari chuckling behind him.

"That was getting boring. You're obviously too tired to go on right now- you should've just given up! Since I knew you wouldn't, I saved you the embarrassment of total defeat. Still, I must count this as a loss for you... I'm so sorry that you must stay here with me, Naruto. I know you wanted to go home so badly...", Bari said, his words dripping in disdain and sarcasm at the same time. In the background, Naruto heard a loud thud and a scream from Kosuta, who was surely unable to move from his injuries.

"I can't wait until we train together again, Naruto. There are so many things you must learn before you can become one of our ninja.", Bari taunted. Naruto's eyes welled up with tears, but he managed to keep himself from crying.

"Good night, my dearest pupil!," Bari called cheerfully over his shoulder as he left Naruto and Kosuta both immobilized in the training room by themselves.

End note: Please read and review:D


	11. Part Eleven: A Horrific Scene

I'm so sorry about not updating! I'll try to do that more if school and other things don't get in the way. Yeah, I was busy. I'm also sorry that it's a bit short, but it needed to be this length. Enough apologizing- on to the story!

Time had been moving along slowly in the village of Konoha. Since Tsunade had become the Hokage, there had been no major attacks on Konoha of any sort. The Akatsuki hadn't been sighted in a year and a half. Orochimaru and his followers all but disappeared after he killed the Third Hokage. Sure, there was always the threat of war and invasion, but there were no attempts. None at all. And it was making Tsunade worry.

'Even when Sarutobi was Hokage, there was at least one major fiasco each year... We've been so weak, and yet no one has tried to exploit that. We've gained most of our strength back, but there hasn't even been one attack since I became Hokage... It's almost like everyone is purposefully letting us rebuild... Orochimaru, what are you up to?!'

Tsunade sighed and snapped out of her thoughts. She went back to her work, reading a huge stack of reports, bills, and all sorts of other papers. Her ears pricked when she heard the muffled sounds of a commotion coming from behind the door to her office. She could hear her guards firmly denying entrance to her office, and a panicked, pleading voice insisting that it was important. Groaning and stretching, she got up out of her chair and opened the door to her office.

"What is going on out here?", Tsunade demanded, glancing at the guards, who were holding back a disheveled-looking chuunin.

"Lady Hokage! Please, I need to speak wi-", the chuunin shouted. "Sorry Lady Hokage, but this man insists on speaking with you. I told him to file his mission reports like everyone else, but-", one of the guards started. Tsunade cut him off with a raised hand.

"It's all right. If he thought it was important enough to speak to me in person that he came all the way here, then I suppose I can spare the time to hear his report.", Tsunade said, turning and walking into her office. "Come in." Once the chuunin entered, she shut the door.

After sitting down and motioning for the man to do the same, Tsunade asked the chuunin for his story.

"I'm sorry for barging in like that, but it is very important that I tell you! While on a mission in Water Country, I heard that the merchants from a village near Kirigakure did not appear at the local summer festival. Out of the ten or so groups that should have come to sell their wares, none showed up." The chuunin looked panicked, and was shaking visibly. He paused his story, and started to hyperventilate.

'What does any of this have to do with anything? Certainly a kidnapping wouldn't have shaken him so badly...', Tsunade thought.

"Calm down. If you don't, you'll faint and you won't be able to finish your story.", Tsunade said. Once the man seemed calmer, Tsunade asked him to continue.

"O-okay... I... I went to investigate... Just to make sure there wasn't a bunch of mercenaries there, or a plague, or anything to worry about. I went there... There should've been... 400, 500, m-maybe more... but... Th-they... They were all d-dead... And it- it didn't l-look like they even t-tried to run... O-or even had t-time... Just where th-they stood... D-dead... All of 'em w-with their throats c-cut..."

Tsunade stopped the man just as he started to cry. She led the man toward the door of her office.

"Don't worry, I'll send someone to investigate immediately. This is indeed very important. Time is of the essence. Thank you for informing me personally- this information is certainly more important now than it would have been after I read it in a report.", Tsunade said as she led the chuunin out. Just before Tsunade's hand touched the handle of her office door, the chuunin moved in what was all but a blur to Tsunade.

She had no time to block the kunai he pulled out of his weapons pouch. He quickly slit her throat, cradling her body to the ground so that it wouldn't make a noise. The chuunin smirked down at her, chuckling darkly.

"I can't believe that you fell for such poor acting! You really are as pitiful as I've heard. I'll spare you for now, just out of pity for you and your country. Quite a blow to Konoha's image, isn't it?", the chuunin laughed. "Well, I must be off. Oh, and Master Bari sends his love. Ta-ta!" And with that, the chuunin disappeared in a puff of smoke.


	12. Part Twelve: Wisdom of the Sage

As Kakashi opened the message, his heart skipped a beat

Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took so long! I was so caught up in finals and in the college Calculus class I'm taking this summer that I couldn't find any time to update! I'm really excited to be getting a longer chapter out for chapter 12 (And I just broke my record for longest fic- used to be 11 chapters LOL…) (Not to mention 59 reviews, 46 alerts, and over 7,000 pageviews for this story… Thank you ALL! ) Oh, and we won't be getting back to Naruto for awhile… Just an FYI: This chapter is set about 2 years after Naruto was kidnapped, if anyone forgot… Anyway, Enjoy!!

As Kakashi opened the message, his heart skipped a beat. 'This can't be!', he thought, 'There must be some mistake!' But deep down, Kakashi knew there could be no mistake of this magnitude. The message he received said, "Hokage attacked, in critical condition. Hokage position temporarily given to Jiraiya. All anbu and jounin will report immediately, all chunin will report at 5 PM. Further instructions will follow."

Kakashi turned to what was left of his team and shouted to them, "Sakura, Sasuke! There's something I must see to; keep training on your own. And keep your guard up for anything even slightly unusual!" He then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

When Kakashi got to the Hokage tower, the Hokage's office was already packed with shinobi, Jiraiya standing behind Tsunade's desk. Almost everyone was whispering in hushed, yet slightly panicked tones to the ninja around them. A few minutes after Kakashi arrived, Jiraiya cleared his throat and the soft murmurs from the shinobi died down.

"As you already know from the messages you received, Lady Tsunade was attacked earlier. Her condition is unstable, and she may or may not recover. To our knowledge, the last ninja that spoke with her is the one that attacked her. We do not currently have a name for him, but we have a photograph from the security camera outside the door. He is about 5'7, with short brown hair, and was wearing a chuunin vest. We have already sent out a team to search for this man. We do not yet know which of our known enemies, if any, are behind this assassination attempt.

"In Tsunade's absence, I have temporarily taken over the position of Hokage. I ask you all to be on alert, even more so than usual. If anything seems the slightest bit wrong, do not hesitate to question it. Anbu, one of you will be placed at each watch tower around the city wall at all times; the schedule is on that board over there. One team of anbu will be kept on patrol duty as well. Jounin instructors, tell your genin to be on alert as well. Genin are to be informed of this incident as soon as possible. There are stacks of photos of the suspect on either side of the door. Take one for each of your genin. Jounin, you are to patrol in place of the usual anbu patrol units.

"You are all dismissed, with the exception of Kakashi-sensei, Asuma-sensei, and Shizune-san." The three ninja mentioned moved toward the center of the room as the other ninja cleared out.

"Kakashi," Jiraiya started, "I've heard that Tsunade was training one of your genin- Haruno Sakura, right?" Kakashi nodded.

"Shizune, I would like for you to take over Sakura's training. I'm assuming you that you can teach her?" "Yes, of course!", Shizune replied. "Asuma, I think it would be a good idea if your genin, Yamanaka Ino, also trained with Shizune for the time being. She should already know plenty of poisons and healing herbs, if I know her father at all."

Shizune nodded again. Asuma nodded, "I'll suggest it to her." Asuma leaves, taking a photo of the suspect with him. Shizune rushed out, most likely to check in on Tsunade at the hospital. Kakashi hung back to talk with Jiraiya.

"How is she, really?", Kakashi asked. Jiraiya glanced at Kakashi, then looked away with a sigh. "It's supposed to be top secret at this point,"Jiraiya replied. "I know... I'm only asking because Sakura will want to visit- I should probably prepare her for it.", Kakashi said a bit sadly.

"It's not good... Whoever it was managed to get behind her and slit her throat before she could react. The only reason she's alive right now is because one of the guards had a really good sense of smell, and smelt the blood... It- it was a real mess.", Jiraiya said, unable to fully mask the fact that he's upset. He sighed again and sank into the chair behind Tsunade's desk.

"You should get back to your genin team now- they're still out of the loop.", Jiraiya said, turning away from Kakashi.

Kakashi nodded, and picked up one of the photos before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

When Kakashi returned to the training field where he had left Sakura and Sasuke, they were still training. "I'm back.", Kakashi stated, which was enough to grab both genin's attention.

"What is it?", asked Sasuke, somewhat anxiously. "Not so fast- I need both of you to promise me you'll sit down and listen to me until I say otherwise.", Kakashi replied. "Tell me!", Sasuke growled. "Sit first!", Kakashi demanded. Once they were both sitting down, Kakashi started his explanation, "There was an assassination attempt on Lady Tsunade-"

Sakura gasped, "Where is she?!" "I'm getting to that. Let me finish," Kakashi said. Once Sakura seemed a bit calmer, he continued, "She is in critical condition. Jiraiya has temporarily taken the position of Hokage until further notice. We were asked to show our genin this picture," Kakashi held up the photo, "which is of the last person seen with Tsunade. He has since gone missing, and a team has been sent out to find him. Everyone is to be on their highest alert, and report anything that seems even remotely suspicious. We could be given a mission at any time, so make sure any supplies you might need are on hand and ready to be used."

Once Kakashi finished, Sakura took a shaky breath, and asked, "Can I go and visit Tsunade?" Kakashi nodded, "Yes, but she's in pretty bad shape." Sakura stood, "I'm going to be a healer- I can take it." Sakura headed off toward the hospital.

"Sakura!", Kakashi called. "What?", Sakura replied. "Don't stay too late- we'll meet here at the crack of dawn for training tomorrow. Be sure to get some rest."

As she left, Sasuke stood up, "What now?" "We could end early today... Or we could spar." Sasuke smirked as the thought of a challenge cheered him up, "I'd like to see how far I've come since we last sparred... It's been a while." Both ninja fell into a fighting stance, and almost disappeared from sight as they started into a flurry of movements.

When Sakura got to the hospital, she easily found Tsunade's room. There had already been so many flowers sent to her that they were lined up along the hall on either side of her hospital room's door. Sakura entered the room, and found Tsunade lying on the bed motionless. Shizune was seated on a chair next to the bed, holding one of Tsunade's hands. As Sakura got closer to the bed, she saw just how serious the assassination attempt was.

Tsunade had bandages all across her neck, and a tube sticking out of the bottom of her throat that was hooked up to a respirator. She could tell the bandages were fresh, but some blood was already seeping through on parts of the bandages.

Though Tsunade was in a hospital gown, Sakura could tell that her shirt had been soaked in blood from the reddish dust stains that were on the top of it. She could also tell that Tsunade must have laid in a puddle of her own blood for a good amount of time because it soaked into her hair.

There were no defensive wounds, no cuts or bruises anywhere other than the cut across her throat. 'Whoever did this is a complete and total coward! They could at least have the decency to attack from the front!', Sakura thought, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Sakura... ", Shizune said, "She'll... She'll be fine, don't worry! She- She's strong..." Even though Shizune was trying to reassure Sakura, she didn't sound confident at all. It was almost as if Shizune was saying it more to reassure herself than to calm Sakura down. Sakura pulled up a chair on the other side of Tsunade, and sank down into it.

"Yeah... I know.", Sakura said, smiling sadly to herself. 'All we can do now is wait...'

Thank you all for reading! I'll try to get the next chapter out soon! (By the way, reviews are like an author's version of the "carrot-on-a-stick"… It gives us good incentive to get going! )


	13. Part Thirteen: Awake at Last

Author's Note: Sorry this took so long to get out! AP Physics is killer, and Government gives no quarter either… I'll be trying to update more often, but considering it's the holidays, and the workload I expect to have, it probably won't be for awhile- at least until after Christmas, and maybe not then. I'll see how things go…

Anyway, Naruto won't be showing up in this chapter either… Sorry!! This part of the story doesn't involve him yet… He should make an appearance in chapter 15 if all goes as planned…

Two days had passed since the attempted assassination of Lady Tsunade. Sakura sighed and stretched, rubbing her dried-out eyes. She hadn't slept much since she heard the news- sitting in hospital chairs have that effect on most people. Shifting in her chair, she felt her back muscles throb from being in such an unusual position for so long. She gritted her teeth and started to stretch out her back too.

'Geez, I could've brought a chair from home and saved myself a lot of pain... ', Sakura thought, groaning.

Leaning back into the death trap well-disguised as a chair, Sakura heard it protest loudly.

'That's funny, I don't remember this chair making any noise when I sat in it before...'

Sakura's eyes shot over to the hospital bed, where Tsunade was starting to stir.

"Tsunade-sensei!", Sakura shouted, rushing to Tsunade's bedside. Of course, Sakura's legs did not like the sudden movement, and decided to give out on her halfway there. Pulling herself up with the side of Tsunade's bed, Sakura hit the nurse call button above Tsunade's bed.

'She's finally waking up... I wonder what really happened...'

"What is it?!", a nurse cried, rushing into the room. "Is she okay?!" The nurse looked quite panicked.

"I think she's waking up!", Sakura said quickly, trying to calm the nurse down. The nurse glanced at the monitors that were hooked up to Tsunade, and gasped.

"Oh. Oh, you're right! I'll go get the doctor!", the nurse said, and with that, she dashed out of the room.

Sakura heard more noises from Tsunade's direction, almost sounding like groans. She looked over to Tsunade, whose eyes were staring straight back at her. "Tsunade-sensei!", Sakura yelled, kneeling down to Tsunade's level. Tsunade's lips started to move, but the only sound that came from them was a low groan. She picked up one hand, slowly testing its movement, then tried to signal something to Sakura by moving her hand in circles with the fingers touching her thumb.

"Sensei, what are you...", Sakura started, confused, "Are you trying to tell me something?" Tsunade gave a slight glare, then shook her hand back and forth, making the same hand shape as before. "You... uh... Oh! You want to write, don't you?" Tsunade squeezed her eyes shut, looking very relieved. "I'll go get a pen and paper!", Sakura said, heading toward the door.

Just as Sakura was about to leave, the nurse from earlier burst into the room with an elderly doctor on her heels. "-and she's awake now, so I came and got you like you asked.", the nurse finished as she rushed to Tsunade's side. "How long has she been awake?", the doctor asked. "Not long," Sakura said, "but she's asking for something to write with already, since she can't talk yet. I was just going to get a pen and a piece of paper." "Oh, I'll get it!", the nurse said, darting out of the room again.

The doctor sighed, "If only I had energy like that again! Well, let's see how you are, Lady Hokage..." The doctor started to look at Tsunade's throat, making sounds like "Hmm..." and "Ah.." every so often. The door burst open, signaling the entrance of the energetic nurse. "I've got it!", the nurse said, quickly handing the pen and paper to Sakura, then leaving just as suddenly as she had appeared. She waited to give it to Tsunade, since the doctor was still looking her over.

"Well, Lady Tsunade," the doctor began, "I daresay they found you in the knick of time. Any longer, and we might not have been able to replace all that lost blood... This wound should take only another week to heal, at this rate. I'm afraid you'll have to refrain from talking for awhile longer, as your vocal cords are still healing. I can't give you an exact estimate on how long that will take just yet. We'll see how you're doing in a few days." The doctor finished, and left Tsunade and Sakura alone in the room.

Sakura took this as a cue to give Tsunade the pen and paper. Tsunade spent a few minutes scribbling out a note, then handed the paper to Sakura. It read:

"Give this message to whoever took command: Investigate disappearance of villagers near Kirigakure who didn't attend summer festival. It may be connected to this. Research 'Bari'- possible name or alias of person behind this attack."

"Okay, I'll take this to Jiraiya.", Sakura replied. Tsunade looked fairly surprised at the mention of her former teammate.

"How are you feeling?", Sakura asked. Tsunade just shot her a look that said 'how do you THINK I'm feeling?!' and waved her out the door.

Jiraiya was just listening to the patrol reports as Sakura found him. After waiting through three reports of nothing, Jiraiya finally snapped on the ninja giving reports.

"Did anyone see anything even remotely suspicious?!", Jiraiya said, frustrated. No one said anything. "Well?!", he continued. There were a bunch of people shaking their heads, and a few mumbled "No, sir"s.

"Then leave! It's a waste of my time to listen to twenty different two-minute reports on nothing.", Jiraiya finished, growling. He turned to Sakura. "Anything new?", he asked anxiously.

"Tsunade-sensei finally woke up!", Sakura chirped. Jiraiya visibly relaxed, letting out a long sigh.

"You had me worried for a minute there. How is she?", Jiraiya asked, much calmer than before.

"She's doing well. She wanted me to bring you this note.", Sakura answered, handing Jiraiya Tsunade's note. Jiraiya read it quickly, frowning.

"Well, it's a start. Thank you, you may go.", Jiraiya said, turning back to the papers on his desk.

'I guess I better put together a team for this...', Jiraiya thought. 'I'll have to send them out first thing tomorrow... We've already lost so much time...'


	14. Part Fourteen: Truth Discovered

Author's Note: Okay, maybe I lied, and the update will be same-day… I kinda got caught up in writing this part. Warning: It's a little graphic… Not as graphic as other chapters, in my opinion, but I'll still warn you. Hopefully the next update after this will come around Christmas…

Jiraiya had spent all night skimming past reports of missing villagers and looking for anyone with an alias of 'Bari' with the help of Shizune. The results weren't good- there was no mention of a 'Bari' anywhere in the files they looked through.

There was, however, a report of villagers not showing up to a summer festival near Kirigakure. Since the village was out in the wilderness, no one in the area had gone to investigate. He figured they should send a team there, if only to ensure that it had no relation to what had happened to Tsunade. He figured it would be a good idea to send out Team 8, since he could give them an item that belonged to the chuunin that tried to kill Tsunade and they could use it to track him down if he were there. He heard a knock on the door.

"Come in", he said, cracking his neck. It was Team 8, minus Kurenai since they needed all the experienced ninja in case of another attack.

"So, what are we doing?", Kiba said, absently rubbing Akamaru's head.

"You four are going to a village just outside of Kirigakure known as Mizumi Village. There are reports that none of the 500 or so inhabitants showed up for a local festival that usually draws out most of the village. The rogue chuunin that tried to assasinate Lady Tsunade may have ties to this. I have a shirt that he left at his apartment for you to track him with. If you come across his scent, don't hesitate to follow it, even if you haven't reached the village yet. The priority at the moment is to find him, if possible, and to investigate the village if there is no trace of him. Understood?"

Jiraiya was met with a set of nods. "Good. I expect you to gather your things and supplies and to leave within two hours." They nodded again and left.

'Hopefully they find the bastard that did this...', Jiraiya thought to himself.

Kiba, Akamaru, Shino and Hinata met at the village gate fifteen minutes before their two-hour packing time was up, and set out shortly after. Kiba had already given the chuunin's shirt to Akamaru to smell, just in case they ran across his scent.

They made good time, arriving in Kirigakure just before sunset. They planned to get a room at a local inn, and set out for the village in the morning. Mizumi Village was approximately two hours travel from Kirigakure, so the mission would only last two more days if it was uneventful- one to investigate, and another to travel back to Konoha.

The night was uneventful, save for the couple in the room next to the ninja having an all-out screaming match for an hour in the wee hours of the morning. When they woke, everyone was somewhat well-rested, but a bit tired from the fight next door keeping them up. They grabbed their stuff and headed out after a quick breakfast in the inn's dining room. About an hour and forty-five minutes into the journey, Akamaru started whimpering. Kiba stopped to check on him.

"What's wrong, boy? Do you smell that guy?", Kiba said, trying to figure out why Akamaru was upset. Akamaru just whimpered again and shook his head, then buried his nose under his paws.

"That's not good- I've never seen him like this before. It's not that guy's scent, but something's bothering him... Hinata, is there anyone around us?" Hinata activated her Byakugan. She focused for a minute or so, but then shook her head.

"N-no, there's no one that I can see.", she said. "Well, let's keep going. There's no point in just sitting here.", Kiba said, starting out on the path again. They traveled for another five minutes, until Akamaru started whimpering again and refused to continue.

"Come on, boy! We're almost there- don't stop now!", Kiba said, trying to convince the nin-dog to continue. Akamaru just whimpered louder than before. "Look, it might just be something off in the trees... Come on, let's keep going!", Kiba said to Akamaru, trying to sound convincing. Akamaru whimpered again, then stood up and looked ready to follow Kiba again.

"What was that about?", Shino asked. "Akamaru says he smells something dead, but it's probably just an animal out in the woods or something... If I can't smell it, it's probably not big enough to worry about.", Kiba said, again heading for the village. His teammates joined him, and they headed for the village for nearly ten minutes before Kiba stopped.

"What is it this time?", Shino said annoyedly, just before Kiba fell to his knees and vomited. "Kiba!", Hinata cried, rushing to his side. Kiba shivered, wiping his mouth.

"Akamaru was right about smelling something dead- it's all over... From the smell of it, I'd say that probably the entire village is dead... I can't pick out one live scent from here, so if there's anyone still alive, there aren't many that are. I'd tell you to try not to breathe through your nose, but it's so bad, it's probably better to just not breathe at all... Let's just hope whatever killed them is long gone. Come on, we should at least document this, since we came all this way...", Kiba stated, shakily pushing himself off the ground.

"A-are you sure you'll be okay?", Hinata asked him. Kiba nodded, moving forward again. As they spotted the town through the trees, Shino and Hinata could both smell the rotten scent of decay. Walking into the town was like a real-life horror movie- there were bodies lying everywhere. Men, women, children- no one was spared. The dirt of the main road running through the town was literally dyed a brownish-black with blood. Scavengers must have already gotten at the bodies, since parts of the corpses were missing. Shino and Hinata were looking quite pale, while Kiba was looking positively green with nausea.

"Hinata, is there any way you could examine a few of them with your Byakugan to see what killed them? If you move them, it'll just get messy and probably make the smell worse...", Kiba asked, gagging on the scent. Suddenly, he heard a bark. Akamaru had been sniffing around to see if there was any scent from the rogue chuunin in the village. Kiba hurried over to where Akamaru was.

Akamaru barked again, and started pawing at the ground, scraping at the blood to get at the dirt beneath it. After he had broken through, he nuzzled Kiba's cheek and barked again. Kiba leaned over the dirt, sniffing it.

"What is it you want me to...", Kiba said, trailing off as he picked out a scent that made his blood run cold. A very familiar scent...

"Holy shit!"

Hinata, who had just finished figuring out the cause of death for most of the villagers, heard the yell and ran towards where she heard it.

"Kiba! Are you okay?", Shino yelled, running toward where Kiba was crouched.

"You guys are never gonna believe this, but..." Kiba broke off laughing like he didn't even believe it himself.

"But what?", Shino asked pointedly.

"I... We just found Naruto's scent...", Kiba stated. Shino barely had any time to catch Hinata as she fainted from the shock of it all. Kiba continued talking, long since used to Hinata's fainting spells. "He must've been here not long before the massacre, because it wasn't mixed with any other scent and it was sealed in by the blood. He... He might still be around here somewhere!"

"Let's go back to the inn to rest. We'll send a report back about this- it's not like this won't be here tomorrow." They headed back to the inn for some much-needed rest. Kiba could barely sleep that night, thinking of how they might find Naruto.

'He... He could really be here!', he thought, just as he fell asleep.


	15. Part Fifteen: A Sudden Attack

Author's Note: I know it's been a long time since I updated. Sorry- I've been rather busy with everything. I also lost my creative muse- and just as the story was going to get good! So here it is- one of the parts I've really looked forward to writing- Chapter 15. :D And thanks to everyone who has reviewed- you people keep me going on this :)

He walked swiftly into a room completely engulfed in shadow. Though he could see nothing, he knew that the only other person in the room was his master. He shut the door. Though it made no difference in lighting, he knew the meeting was secret and as such, he couldn't let the sounds carry out of the room.

"You summoned me?", he called into the darkness. He heard a slight chuckle, which he knew would be followed by a smirk, even if he couldn't see it.

"Yes, I did. I have another mission for you." his master replied, sounding quite pleased with himself. He wouldn't bother asking his master what the mission was because, as always, his master would tell him the details whenever he pleased. He hated when his master would keep him in suspense, but if he asked now, he would get no answers.

"Don't worry, I won't keep you waiting. This one is actually somewhat urgent..."

His ears perked up at his master's words. 'He's never stated anything was urgent before...'

"There were three Leaf ninja at the location of the Mizumi village, no doubt to examine your handiwork. They plan to do a detailed sweep of the area tomorrow. If they look too closely, I'm sure they'll put all the pieces together. Even they cannot be so dim-witted. If they figure it out, well...", his master chuckled slightly as he took in a sharp breath.

His blood ran cold.

'If they find out... It's over...'

"That will end any chance of you ever returning to Fire country...", his master continued, "Your mission is to make them leave, then bury the evidence. Go."

He put on a blank face to mask his chaotic emotions, nodded to his master and left.

**At the Inn the Next Morning**

Kiba woke the next morning just before sunrise. Stretching, he noticed that Shino was already awake and dressed. He hopped out of bed and dressed as quickly as he could, eager to start in on the day's work. Starting a report wasn't something he looked forward to, but if it meant finding Naruto, or even a clue to what had happened to him two years ago, you could definitely count Kiba in.

"Hurry up. Hinata's been waiting outside for half an hour already.", Shino said.

"You could've woke me up!", Kiba said, throwing on his coat. Shino shook his head. "Today's mission will be... trying. We all needed our sleep." Kiba pulled on his shoes, and they were out the door. Hinata silently fell into formation behind Shino as they headed for the village. Once there, they quickly decided on a plan of action. Shino would stand guard in the middle of the village, just in case any enemy ninja try to ambush them, Kiba and Akamaru would try to follow Naruto's scent, and Hinata would start making a list of the dead, their respective cause of death, and searching among them for Naruto's face.

By midday, Hinata was almost finished with her list of the dead. Kiba and Akamaru had had no luck finding a trail using Naruto's scent, as the blood covered it completely in most places. Shino's bugs hadn't sensed anything all day. They decided to take a break for lunch because as unappetizing as their surroundings were, they needed to keep their strength up. Kiba was halfway through his third sandwich when Akamaru started barking. It was a deep, leave-or-we'll-kill-you warning bark, leaving no room for any other interpretation.

'This could only mean one thing...', Kiba thought.

All at once, the three Leaf ninja sprung into action, moving into an offensive formation pointed in the direction of Akamaru's barking. Suddenly, a black blur shot into the clearing, zipping back and forth so quickly that there was hardly even a blur to watch. Akamaru lunged for it, but was knocked backwards by a heavy gust of wind. The blur glinted slightly as it moved, enough that the ninja could tell it was armed. It zigzagged back and forth, getting closer to the group, then breaking off to Kiba's side, zigzagging a few more times. Kiba threw a kunai at it, but it suddenly disappeared as if it was never there. It reappeared just as quickly as it vanished on the other side of Kiba, heading straight for Hinata in what could have been a killing blow had she not had her Byakugan activated. Hinata turned away the blade, which she noted was a short katana, with her bare hands. She engaged the blur in an attempt to turn the tables on it, but just barely managed to defend herself. Between the flurry of blows, even she couldn't register the blur as anything more than a blotch of black color.

Using the few seconds where Hinata had distracted the blur, Shino had made a clone of himself out of his kikaichu. Kiba and Akamaru were halfway through their transformation jutsu when Shino's clone charged at the blur, spewing kikaichu at it. The blur vanished again, reappearing a safe distance in front of the group. Shino saw Kiba and Akamaru finish their transformation out of the corner of his eye, and decided to set a trap for the blur. Shino's clone made a semi-circle-shaped wall of kikaichu next to the blur so that it couldn't retreat. Kiba got the hint, and attacked. Hinata prepared to handle any attempts at dodging or countering the blur could make.

Suddenly, the wall of kikaichu dissipated. Hinata's pupil-less eyes widened in shock, and she gasped. Kiba was only a few feet from the blur when it disappeared in a puff of smoke. He turned to search for the blur, and noticed what Hinata had seen only a second before him.

The blur was standing behind Shino, his katana poking out from Shino's right shoulder. Having Shino impaled on his katana slowed the blur down enough that he was identifiable. In fact, he stood there for a few seconds, not taking advantage of their shock.

Hinata and Kiba just stared. A chill ran down their spines, looking at the face of their attacker.

The look in his eyes alone was enough to make a grown man faint. It was full of complete indifference, mixed with slight annoyance and hate. He didn't say anything, but stared at them as they were frozen in shock.

Though his skin was very pale, and his eyes a deep, angry red, there was no mistaking him for anyone else- the blonde hair peeking out from under his black bandana saw to that despite the black cloth mask that covered the lower half of his face.

Hinata was the first to begin to snap out of it, taking a deep breath.

"Naruto..?", she whispered. Her question went unanswered.

End Note: Slight cliffhanger, I know. I feel evil, but this scene really needs to be broken down into sections... Please review!


	16. Part Sixteen: Retreat!

Author's Note: Halloween update! :D I'm in college now, so updates may be far and few between, but I still haven't given up hope on finishing this! (I'm also thinking about fixing it- I've noticed some errors/omissions that I can understand the story without, but that are more important that you, the readers, know about ^_^" I'm fairly sure I also forgot to give a description of Bari. EVER. Which is pretty bad…) I know it's short, but it's better than nothing! Also, it's almost 1AM and I have an 8 o'clock tomorrow or I'd make it longer…

Recap from Last Chapter: (Yes, it's been that long that a recap is needed! This is almost a Chapter 15 part II, so I have to include this part…)

Though his skin was very pale, and his eyes a deep, angry red, there was no mistaking him for anyone else- the blonde hair peeking out from under his black bandana and the slight groove lines on his cheeks saw to that.

Hinata was the first to begin to snap out of it, taking a deep breath.

"Naruto..?", she whispered. Her question went unanswered.

Chapter 16- Retreat!!

Naruto responded by ripping his short katana from Shino's shoulder, slicing cleanly through Shino's collarbone as he pulled back. Shino dropped to his knees with a loud groan, grabbing at his shoulder in reflex and hissing when the contact caused a sharp, burning pain to zip through his body like a bolt of lightning. Or at least, he tried to hiss; what came out was half-hiss, half-gargle that ended with him hacking up about a mouthful of blood.

"You bastard! What the hell is wrong with you?!", Kiba yelled, charging Naruto in man-beast form with an identical-looking Akamaru a half-step behind him. Naruto dodged the attack effortlessly, almost turning into a blur again from the speed at which he was moving.

'Ugh,' thought Shino, 'He must have hit part of my lung...' He tried to breathe carefully to avoid the blood that was currently filling his right lung, but couldn't manage a full breath without gagging and sputtering. 'Shit! I'm out of commission... I hope they can handle him..'

While Naruto was distracted with Kiba's attack, Hinata decided to attack his blind spot. Edging her way in from behind while Naruto's head was turned, she set herself up for a jyuuken blow to the spine. Suddenly, Hinata heard Akamaru whimper and Kiba cry out. Before she could react, Naruto had the tip of his short katana, dripping with blood, pointed at her throat.

Hinata gasped. Naruto's eyes had no amount of kindness left in them. The mischief that used to trickle into his every expression was gone; there was no sign left of the Naruto they had all known and loved except for his outward appearance. It was as if he was a totally different person- one whom they had never met, because all that Naruto had been was no longer there.

Naruto whipped around to slice at a cloud of kikaichu that Shino had sent over in hopes of helping out his teammates, the air around his short katana lengthening the blade and slicing the beetles to bits. This gave Shino the time to finish one last handsign. 'I hope this works... That, or we die today..', Shino thinks before his teammates and him all disappear in a puff of smoke.

They reappear with a 'poof' about a mile and a half up the path back to the village. Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru look around quickly, startled, but soon realize Shino had gotten them all out of there. For Shino, the world spins a bit and he vomits blood, having swallowed a good amount of the blood he had been coughing up. Kiba is holding his left bicep; Naruto managed to slice open the artery there and it was bleeding badly. Akamaru was favoring his right foreleg, where a large gash was quickly tinting his white fur a deep crimson color. Hinata, who had come out of the battle mostly unscathed, slung Shino over her back, the cuts on her hands from blocking Naruto's sword strikes stinging more than she expected.

"We don't have much time!", Hinata yells at Kiba, and she takes off for the village, Kiba and Akamaru only a few paces behind.

Naruto sighs annoyedly and shakes his head. "They can't even face their deaths with honor. Cowards!", he says in a detached yet slightly annoyed tone. He flings his blade to the side, cleaning it of most of the blood on it, and sheathes it. He turns and dashes away, becoming all but invisible.

End Note: I know, I know- sorry it was so short! I'll update more when I have time/if I get extra inspiration ^_^"


	17. Part Seventeen: Report!

Author's note: Finally, I've found more inspiration for this series! Winter break starts Friday, and so as long as I can keep the inspiration with me, I will try to get more of the story finished! Looking back, I want to edit the story SO badly... But, I also want to get it finished. I'd rather finish first, then edit... Also, a slight note on what is written here- I changed the description of Naruto when the group of Leaf ninja first saw him... It is only slightly, so I'll mention it here: He was wearing a black cloth face mask. Doesn't really change the plot, so there's no need to go back and reread if you don't feel like it- there's only one or two sentences different.

~!# Chapter 17 #!~

Naruto sped back to the base after quickly using an earth jutsu to pull the entire village underground. He entered through a secret entrance at the base of a tree. He walked briskly to the room where he knew his master was still waiting, slipping in without a sound.

"Hmm.. You're back so soon, Naruto," his master said playfully, "Were they that easy to kill?"

Naruto's eyes widened for a second before narrowing in irritation.

"My mission was to remove them from the area, leading to a stronger, more important group of ninja being dispatched from the Leaf to investigate. Not once did you mention killing.", Naruto said, holding back a growl.

"Yes, well... Killing them would have been the best way to gain the attention of the Leaf. You still have much to learn, my pupil...", his master trilled, flowing out of the shadows and towards the dim light let in by the outline of the door.

"I was told to quickly attract a more skilled team of Leaf ninja. Had I killed them, it would have been weeks before anyone knew something was wrong and two or more months until the new team could arrive," Naruto bit out.

"Mmm... So you were thinking of your mission... Good boy. Now, tell me of the damage you have wrought upon the Leaf," his master replied lovingly. Naruto's eyes had finally adjusted to the current levels, revealing Bari's face. The years had been kind to him, leaving only a slight deepening of the lines around his mouth. As the years went on, Naruto had learned not to question his master, for although these missions may seem unrelated, they almost certainly tie in with each other or with the missions Bari's lesser ninja were sent to accomplish.

"All three Leaf ninja were alive at the time that I left. I pierced one's lung, cut another's bicep deeply, and left the third with minor cuts. It is unlikely that the one with the pierced lung will live. The other injured Leaf ninja will likely need a week to recover. It is highly unlikely that this squad will return to investigate. If they follow protocol, they will send a request for backup to the Leaf, who will in turn send a squad to replace them in this investigation.", Naruto rattled off uncaringly.

"Mmm... I've almost made a decent ninja out of you.", Bari smiled and moved closer, "But before you go to train, let's finish that latest design... The mixing of blood and ink on your skin when I pierce it is quite dazzling..."

Naruto sighed and removed his cloth mask. Under it were clusters of black lines and dots which formed multiple tattoos across his face. They outlined the whisker-like groove marks in his cheeks, continuing to widen until the effect on his face was like a tiger's stripes had been painted on it. A Maori design covered his bottom lip and chin, appearing from a distance to be a set of fangs protruding from his mouth with a stream of black blood flowing out between them.

"Shirt too, love. Unless you wish to get even more blood on it?", Bari teased. Naruto blinked exasperatedly and pulled his shirt off too. Over a network of thousands of scars, a web of black tattoos had been laid. On the front of his torso, he had tattoos like a tiger's paws had been embedded in his shoulders, leaving deep black gouges in the flesh. Wind lines breezed down from his shoulders toward his elbows, but stopped at the bicep, carrying silhouettes of leaves with them. The sealing tattoo from the nine-tailed fox within Naruto was gone. In its place was a ring of black flames wound about with thorny vines that did not trail as far outward as the seal had. His back held the designs of many beasts, with a tiger growling on his left shoulder, a lion roaring on his right, a phoenix soaring along the spine and a menacing nine-tailed fox just peeking out of the waistband of his pants.

Bari motioned Naruto towards a chair in the corner of the room, where he sat down as Bari flicked the lights on and rolled over a tray of sharp silvery needles with a bottle of ink in the corner.

"Now, hold still," Bari cooed, cradling Naruto's chin,"I want to get this just right..."

He began to stab at Naruto's face with an ink-dipped needle, re-wetting the needle with ink every so often. Bari's hand tightened on Naruto's chin to keep him from moving, but there was no need. Naruto was used to this ritual. He drew a set of two lines near each of Naruto's eyes that started at the hairline and ended at his top and bottom eyelids. He filled the area in halfway to the eye, then began adding dots and extra lines parallel to the original set, decorating it diligently. By the time he was finished, there was a shallow river of blood and ink running down each of Naruto's cheeks.

"There. All done," Bari said with a grin. "Now go get cleaned up. It's not long until dinner, so there is no need for you to train today."

"Yes master," Naruto replied automatically, wiping his face a towel from the cart as he walked out, shirt and mask in his arms. He headed for his room in the barracks, grabbed a robe and sandals, and headed for the bathhouse. He walked past the public locker-room in the bathhouse, and into a private section that was reserved for him and his master alone. He stripped quickly, sighing softly as the humidity of the bathhouse stung the new yet almost-healed tattoos on his cheeks. He left the private room for the private bath, clad in the black bandanna that held his hair back, the robe, a towel around his waist and his sandals. Only when he had closed the sliding door behind himself did he remove the bandanna. He scratched at the set of red fox ears that sat above the human pair as he slipped off the sandals and robe at the large tub's edge and climbed in. He sighed as he sank into the water, flinching slightly as he dipped his head under and then sitting up to relax.

'Huh... I'm still not used to any sensation on these ears... Three months, and I can't even take a bit of hot water touching them...', Naruto sighed. 'I'll have to work more on desensitizing them... Ever since the fox and I merged, everything's been so intense... I should at least try to figure out how to desensitize them before the tails start growing in. Those are gonna be a bitch to deal with... How did the fox put it? "Like growing an extra set of balls"?' Naruto groaned as he shifted slightly, remembering the day his sealing tattoo had faded completely.

Naruto had been sleeping, but woke up to a complete nightmare. He and the fox were in a tunnel of fire, with darkness on either end. He had thought it was one of his run-of-the-mill "being destroyed by the fox" nightmares, but it was much worse than that.

"Naruto... Naruto! You must hurry! We're slipping! NARUTO!", the fox bellowed panickedly.

"..What? What do you mean?", Naruto yawned out slowly.

"WE'RE SLIPPING INTO THE SHINIGAMI'S STOMACH, FOOL! When the seal faded, it released my last binding that was keeping out of the shinigami's stomach! Take my soul into yours, or we'll both be lost forever!", the fox bit out angrily.

"Wait... We'll both be lost?", Naruto asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, "Why not just you?"

"Our souls have grown together over the years! Since they cannot be pulled apart, we both live or we both die! Now SAVE ME you FOOL.", the fox snarled.

"How do I-", Naruto began to ask, instinctively reaching his arms outward. The fox began to glow orange, then shrunk into a small orange-glowing orb that floated into Naruto's hands.

"Oh," Naruto said, realizing what had to happen. He pushed the orb into his chest, feeling the fox's thoughts and feelings merge with his own.

"Thank you!,"the fox snarled sarcastically in Naruto's mind. "I'm just gonna take a nap up here. Call me if you have any questions.", the fox said, and with that, his presence was gone.

"Wait, how do I... call you...,"Naruto's question trailed off as he asked it. The tunnel of fire faded, and when Naruto next opened his eyes, he was in his bed.

'Huh. Funny dream... That damn fox was in it, too...', Naruto thought. He suddenly sensed an angry presense before hearing an, 'I heard that!' in his mind. 'Wha... You... How? ...', Naruto babbled, at a loss for words.

'I said I'd be napping until you call me. Then you called me, so here I am.', the fox replied snarkily.

'That's... so weird...', Naruto exclaimed, too shocked to think about anything else.

'Well, since I'm here, I'm going to tell you about the changes your body's probably already going through...', the fox said mysteriously.

'Wait, you mean like "the birds and the bees"? I'd rather not hear that one again...', Naruto said, wincing.

'Idiot!', the fox huffed,'Your soul is now part fox. Its container, your body, will now begin to reflect those changes.'

'How do you mean?', Naruto demanded, glaring suspiciously.

'You will grow fox ears, and claws, and tails. You will be faster and stronger... more powerful. That is, if you can take control of your newfound abilities.'

'What newfound abilities?', Naruto asked, still suspicious but very curious.

'There is no way to tell what of mine will pass to you, but at the very least your senses and speed should heighten. However, it is likely that you will be weak as a kitten for the next few days, if not weeks as your body and soul adjust to each other and try to compensate for each others' weaknesses... I will try to guide you through it all, but I'm not a lenient teacher. I will expect much of you', the fox warned.

The next few days had been hell for Naruto. He was the sickest he could ever remember being, with a burning fever, aching bones, volatile stomach and even a few seizures. Luckily the fox had known a recipe for a balm that soothed the pain of the ears growing in, or the following weeks would have been agony as well.

The dinner bell rang, breaking Naruto out of his thoughts. He pulled himself out of the tub, blood and grime long since washed away, and dressed quickly. 'Was I really in there that long?', he thought, throwing on a new shirt and pair of pants that had been left for him. 'Eh. Guess it's time to go to dinner.', he thought, heading out.

#ENDNOTE#: Again, sorry about the wait! I've been crazy busy, and not inspired at all. I think this is the most I've written all year :/ I'll try to get the next chapter up soon!


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